


Ulysses Goes to Sixth Form

by Current521



Category: The Mechanisms (Band), Ulysses Dies at Dawn - The Mechanisms (Album)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Canon-Typical Arson, Canon-Typical Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Fake Relationship, Implied Underage Drug Use, Mentions of drugs, Other, POV Multiple, Tags to be added, Underage Drinking, alcohol and smoking mentions, also there are more relationships i haven't tagged because they came up as myth and not mechs, gay pining, scandals, teacher/student relationship, technically not original characters they're from myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 14,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/pseuds/Current521
Summary: Ulysses is a high school dropout who kind of just hangs around. Ariadne has her own drama to deal with, Herakles has issues at home, Orpheus has been dumped by his girlfriend, and Oedipus, well... He just wants to get out. The five of them end up vaguely working together on a project, while their lives unfold around them.Oh, and all their teachers are immortal, because of course they are.
Relationships: Ashes O'Reilly & Ulysses (Ulysses Dies at Dawn), Narcissus/Orpheus (Ulysses Dies at Dawn)
Comments: 78
Kudos: 59





	1. Ulysses

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing is technically from Jonny's POV, but he's just narrating events he's not involved in, you know, as he does. Yes the Mechs are there as themselves, getting involved. No I don't know how no one has noticed this either.

Ulysses dropped out of school because they already knew what they had to learn. At least, that’s what they’d tell you if they asked; the reality, of course, is quite different.

In reality, Ulysses was just a no-good punk with too much time and too little energy to care anymore, and a good relationship to their chemistry teacher, Hades.

Hades was the one who brought Ulysses booze and cigarettes to sell to younger students, which is how the two of them found themselves sitting on a fence near the school, smoking together.

“How old are you actually?” Ulysses asked.

Hades laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” they said. “You’ve learned that gender is fake, when will you learn that age is too?”

“True.” Ulysses kept smoking. “But like, seriously, you look 23. How?”   
“Maybe I am 23.”

“You’ve been teaching for six years at least.”

“Curiosity isn’t a good look on you, Ulysses.” Hades jumped off the fence and put out their cigarette under their heel. “I need to get back to class. Some of us have a job, you know.”

Ulysses shook their head, but didn’t comment as Hades walked away.

Ulysses was, of course, not unaccustomed to Hades’ antics, nor were they about to question them. Hades was Hades, and they were strange and cryptic and liked burning things, but they were cool and didn’t rat out about the booze or alcohol, and they always had a good story to tell, even if Ulysses never believed any of them.

Ulysses sat around on the fence for a while. There were inevitably some kids with a free period or skipping who’d want to buy a handful of cigarettes or a bottle for the weekend, and that was really what they were here for.

There was one more reason Ulysses stuck around; they knew the truth about Olympia Sixth Form School and its staff. Hades, of course, is better known to us as Ashes O'Reilly, and as for the rest of the teachers, well… They, too, were all immortal.


	2. Orpheus

Orpheus was very young, even to mortals, but then again, he was a student. Those do tend to be quite young, I hear.

Nonetheless, even his peers thought him young. Something about his delicate build, the wide, innocent eyes, or his high, fragile singing voice, perhaps, or maybe just the way he acted.

Today, however, those big eyes were covered by his hands, because he was curled up in a corner of the empty hallway, sobbing, with his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, Eurydice, sitting next to him.

“I mean, it’s just… I just feel like you keep looking back, you know?” she said, as her (rather long and tedious, in my opinion) speech came to an end. “And maybe that’s not a bad thing, but we’re growing up, Orpheus, we can’t keep doing this. You’re a good guy, but I need to move on. I’m sure you can understand.”

Orpheus just sobbed harder.

“I’ll see you around, I guess. I need to go to class.” Eurydice awkwardly patted Orpheus on the shoulder and got up to leave.

This was when Hades returned from their smoke break with Ulysses, walking past Orpheus.

“Hey kid.” They sat next to him; their class could wait. “What’s up?”

Orpheus, slightly scared by Hades, choked a sob and looked up. “Um, I think my girlfriend just broke up with me.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “You think she broke up with you?”

“Uh, yeah, she didn’t say the words, but—”

“Yeah, that’s a breakup, alright.” They patted his shoulder. “Find someone else, see if she gets jealous. And if she doesn’t, hey, you have a new partner.” They got up. “Don’t you have a class to be in? I do.”

“Oh. Uh. Sure.” Orpheus got up and wiped his eyes. “Thanks Mx Hades.”

“Hades is my first name.” They walked away before Orpheus could say anything.

Orpheus, overall confused by this encounter, went to his English class.


	3. Ariadne

Ariadne had been on top of the world; youngest ever winner of the district coding competition, class president four years in a row, yearbook manager, second highest grades of her year (fucking Oedipus), daughter of the people who had designed the anti-cheating software that quickly became standard.

Soon after, of course, her father’s scheme came to light; the software collected private information from every computer it was installed on, including school bank records, and, of course, grades and reference letters. Her father was jailed, her mother fined heavily, and Ariadne went from being on top of the world to being on the bottom of the social hierarchy at Olympia Sixth Form School… Whatever that means.

In any case, Ariadne was still the yearbook manager and class president, but those titles no longer came with prestige. Instead, it came with badly hidden laughs and sidewards glances and being avoided.

And today, apparently, it came with being cornered by Theseus, star of the rugby team and local meathead. “Ariadne.”

“What do you want, Theseus?” She tried to push past him, but he blocked her way.

“Help.” He grinned. “I’m failing, and if I have to repeat year 13, I’m gonna lose my spot at Cambridge.”

“No you won’t, we both know your parents paid for it,” she said automatically. Then she thought it through; Theseus was (somehow) popular, and she could make this work for her. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“On one condition. Date me.”

“What?”

“I know, okay, listen…” And Ariadne explained her plan; how she could keep Theseus from failing, if he could restore her social standing.

Theseus, of course, was as dumb as a brick shithouse, so Ariadne had her work cut out for her, but she could do it; after all, she’d had a hand in designing the software that prevented cheating. And if he could stop the sneering and disgusted looks, well… She counted that a win.


	4. Oedipus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to write the classic "Oedipus marries his mother" story because 1) he's literally 18, and 2) that's gross, so instead, he has an affair with a teacher, which... Is also shitty and gross, so this is a warning, if you don't wanna read anything about that, this is not the chapter for you

Jocasta had taught social studies at Olympia when Oedipus had met her. He’d fallen in love pretty much instantly, but the affair hadn’t started until he’d turned 18.

He was well aware that Jocasta was older than him — by how much, he wasn’t sure — and that the affair was a bad idea, but we’ve all done weird things for love. Well, most people have; I’m better than that.

Details aside, Oedipus was old enough to make his own decision, and that decision was being at Jocasta’s house late one night, the day after she’d been fired (effective immediately) after their affair had been discovered. They didn’t talk much, other than Oedipus apologising for having been careless, and Jocasta telling him that it was okay. She didn’t need a job.

This was when her husband came home and found a teenage boy in his bed. “What’s going on here?” Laius asked, remarkably calm.

“Nothing, um, it’s nothing.” Jocasta quickly got out of bed, which was probably a mistake, as it revealed how little clothes she was wearing. “Just uh, Oedipus didn’t have a place to sleep, and—”   
“I’ll just go,” Oedipus said, getting out of bed, ignoring the way Laius glared at him. “I can find somewhere.”

Laius blocked his way. “No no, go ahead and stay.”

Oedipus tensed up. “Let me go.”

“No, if Jo wants you in her bed she can, who am I to say anything?”

“Laius—” Jocasta began, but she was interrupted by Oedipus throwing the first punch.

It was a short fight. Oedipus was built like a reed, but he was tall and ran track on the weekends, and Laius had an office job and didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d ever been in a fight.

“Good job,” Jocasta said drily once her husband was on the floor, conscious, but barely. “What now?”

“Now I go home,” Oedipus replied, shrugging. “We both knew this couldn’t last.”

“I suppose we did.”

And with that, Oedipus left.


	5. Herakles

The gym that the Zeus family kept in their basement was poorly lit, with just a few dumbbells and a punching bag, but it was Herakles’ favourite room in the house. Here, he was usually alone, and could take out his rage at the punching bag. Today, he was imagining Orpheus, some fast-track kid in his class who’d done a project with Hyllas, Herakles’ boyfriend. Ex boyfriend, now, because Orpheus had done something, and Hyllas had left first Herakles and then town.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his frenzied punching. “Herakles,” his father said. “You’re late for class.”

“I know.” Herakles took his gloves off. “I’m leaving now.”

“Not dressed like that.” Don Zeus was not a tall man, but he was imposing, even to Herakles, who towered over him in every dimension. “Put on a proper shirt.”   
“Do you want me to be on time or not?”

Herakles was handed a shirt. “Get going.”

“Fine!”

The walk to Olympia wasn’t long, but it did wind past a local public school, where some year 9 kid made the mistake of getting in Herakles’ way. He pushed them over into a bush, wishing they were his dad. Or Orpheus, whom he realistically probably  _ could _ push over.

He went to class; where Hades had set something — he was too late to know what — on fire and was now rambling on about the merits of taxes. Herakles was pretty sure Hades had never paid taxes in their life, but then again, they had a job. And he didn’t care enough to speculate past that, nor did he know enough about taxes.

Hades had, in fact, never paid taxes, and had, in fact, committed tax fraud many times in many galaxies. Herakles wasn’t aware of this, but I am, because I live with them.


	6. Ulysses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just think Ashes and Ulysses should be friends

Hades leaned against the wall next to Ulysses. “I think some of the kids are having a hard time,” they said.

“No shit,” Ulysses replied. “Hey, can I have a smoke?”

“I just gave you three packs.”   
“Those are for selling.” They held out a hand. “Please.”

“Fine.” Hades handed them a lit cigarette, because honestly, it wasn’t like they were paying for the damn things. “What are you up to these days?”

“Trying to prove the immortality of the staff of Olympia.”

Hades almost sputtered. Almost; they kept it together. “What makes you think we’re immortal?”

Ulysses just raised an eyebrow, which was honestly fair, considering that they were right. “Don’t you have a class?” they asked instead.

“Fuck off.” But they were right, so Hades left.

It was at this point that Oedipus walked past. Ulysses knew him well enough; hanging out with Hades meant learning staff room gossip, and while the students hadn’t been informed of the reasoning behind Jocasta’s firing, it hadn’t been hard for Hades to find out.

“Hey. Oedipus.” Ulysses waved him over. “How’s Jocasta?”

Oedipus flushed crimson. “Why should I know? She got fired.”

“Yeah, but you were sleeping with her, weren’t you?”

“How did you—”   
“Hades.” The reply came before Oedipus could ask. “The staff all know. Well, mostly know. I don’t know if they know your name, but they’re immortal, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“They’re not immortal,” Oedipus argued. “That’s impossible.”

“Have you seen Hades? They’re 23. They’ve been 23 for at least six years, probably longer. They’re all immortal.”

“It’s called plastic surgery, Ulysses.” Oedipus shook his head. “Did you want something?”

“Just to annoy you.”

“You’ve succeeded.”

Oedipus walked away, and Ulysses lit another cigarette, smiling slightly to themself. They’d wanted to tell someone for a while, not that it would make a difference; they’d tried bringing it up when they were still a student and first found out, but Hades had given them one hell of a talking to, and they’d realised it wouldn’t help, so they’d just dropped out. Oh, and made friends with Hades. Typical.


	7. Orpheus

Orpheus was preparing for the school musical audition. Or at least that’s what he was  _ supposed _ to be doing; in reality, he was crying in the arms of his close friend Narcissus. They’d been allowed to stay late after school to use the auditorium for practice, since Orpheus got along well with their drama teacher, Dionysus, and really, so did Narcissus.

For now, though, Narcissus was in the big armchair used for the previous semester’s play, and Orpheus was curled up in his lap, complaining.

“I know what you need, old sport,” Narcissus said, carefully getting up and depositing Orpheus in the chair alone. “I’m alone tonight, and Echo just left me. Let’s go.”

“Where?” Orpheus got up, wiping his face.

“My house, of course.” Narcissus’ smile was wide and inviting. “Well, first to see if we can find Ulysses.”

Narcissus didn’t elaborate, but Orpheus let him lead him out of the auditorium and to where an older person, maybe 19 or 20, was smoking against the wall next to a side entrance.

“Hey kids,” they said. “Want anything?”

“A bottle of vodka,” Narcissus said confidently, pulling out a tenner.

Orpheus barely registered the exchange taking place; before he knew it, Narcissus had a bottle in his bag, and was pulling Orpheus along to his house.

The two boys spent the evening in Narcissus’ house, sharing vodka, secrets, and, as more of the vodka disappeared, personal space.

Narcissus had a wicked smile and a charismatic air, so when he offered Orpheus a kiss, “to forget Echo and Eurydice”, Orpheus was quick to accept, and convinced himself it was the alcohol when his heart fluttered. The next morning, when he woke up in a tangle of limbs with Narcissus, he told himself it was the hangover and the surprise that made his heart beat faster.

Unsurprisingly, given the lack of preparation and the hangover, Orpheus did not get the lead in that year’s musical. Instead it went to… Why the fuck is the Toy Soldier a student?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jonny be nice to TS challenge


	8. Ariadne

Theseus was standing on a table, and Ariadne was asking herself what she'd done to deserve this.

"Ariadne is just as bad as her dad!" Theseus yelled, pointing at her. "You know what she said? She said she'd help me cheat my way through year 13 if I promised to date her and make people like her! But guess what Ariadne? I don't need your help! I can get through year 13 myself!"

"Because I already gave you all the material," Ariadne muttered, inaudible to anyone but herself. She wished desperately that someone would stop him, but instead, all eyes were on her. Of course he'd hit the busiest lunch hour, with no teachers in sight.

Ariadne was a good politician; she started crying. Silent weeping at first, then small sobs, then bigger ones as a group of girls began patting her back and pulling her off to the bathroom.

As she left, however, Theseus continued to blabber on about how awful she was, and Ariadne wasn't sure she could save that one, but at least she could extract herself from the situation for the price of a chicken sandwich.

Well, a chicken sandwich and a run-in with Dr Von Raum, the school physician and counsellor. "Ariadne! Are you okay?" He didn't seem disturbed in the slightest; actually, he seemed almost cheerful.

"I'm crying, aren't I?" she said, in lieu of answering the obvious.

"Yes." He gestured for the girls around her to leave. "Go back to your class," he said. "Ariadne, come with me."

"I'm fine," she said, once the girls were gone. She stopped crying. "This was just to get away, I was ridiculed during lunch hour."

"Well, that's not fun, come on."

Ariadne let herself be led to the tiny office that Dr Von Raum occupied, and laid down on the cot. At least it was a good excuse to miss her class.

Somehow — and this had a tendency to happen with Dr Von Raum, as I am well aware — Ariadne found herself spilling all her frustrations and secrets to him, and although he didn't say anything, she did feel slightly better when she left. Go figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just think Marius deserves to be a somewhat accidentally good therapist


	9. Oedipus

He met with Jocasta one last time, at a cafe the next district over. Not that he planned it to be the last time, exactly, it was just how the conversation turned out.

"There's something else," Jocasta said, once Oedipus had said his piece. "Do you know how long I've been teaching at Olympia?"

Oedipus shrugged. "A few years? Why?"

"Almost twenty." She stirred her coffee listlessly. "I mean, how old did you think I was, 30?"

"Something like that. Forty, then? Fifty?"

Jocasta laughed. "Nearly two hundred," she said softly.

"I'm sorry."

"Nearly two hundred. 193, if you must know."

Oedipus recalled the casual way Ulysses had mentioned immortals. "I need to go," he said, standing up abruptly.

He found Ulysses near the school. "Hey kid," they greeted. "You look like you need a smoke."

"Yeah." Oedipus accepted the proffered cigarette and coughed through two drags. "So you were right about the immortality thing."

"Obviously." Ulysses laughed. "What happened?"

"Jocasta told me. She's nearly two hundred years old, by the way."

"You scored a young one then." Ulysses lit up their own cigarette. "You owe me 50p for that, by the way."

"Fuck off," Oedipus said, but handed them a pound and took another cigarette. "What do you mean a young one?"

"Hades is like four thousand at least."

"Fucking hell." Oedipus walked away with his still-lit cigarette.


	10. Herakles

Herakles cornered Hades after a chemistry class. Or maybe Hades cornered Herakles; he wasn't really sure, but my money is on Hades planning it. Ashes doesn't get cornered.

Regardless of who planned it, Herakles was the first to speak. "You failed me."

"You had a failing grade." Hades shrugged. "But you can make it up."

"How?"

"Daedalus and Hermes are planning a big project for the Year 13s, and they're matching up students based on requests. Send in the request I tell you, and I'll mark you up."

Herakles narrowed his eyes. "Is that all?"

"No. They'll ask for a topic as well, I'll tell you that too. Oh, and don't complain."

"But—"

"Do you want the extra credit or not."

"Fine. Just… Tell me what I have to do."

"Excellent." Hades smiled. "Request Orpheus, and ask to do dropouts."

"What?"

"Don't question me, Herakles, or I will make this worse."

"Fine." He stopped. "Why Orpheus?"

Hades shrugged. "Kid could use a pick-me-up. Being chosen will be good for him."

"Don't pretend like you care, it's not a good look."

"Get out of my office."

"This is a classroom."

"Do you want the extra credit or not?"

"Fine!" Herakles turned and left. Orpheus. Of all people, they had to say Orpheus.

Herakles pushed past a couple of year 12 girls, the ones Orpheus usually hung out with. "Get out of my way," he mumbled, annoyed.

"Hey." One of the girls stepped in front of him. "You're Hyllas' boyfriend, aren't you?"

Herakles nearly punched her. Nearly. "Why?"

"You must've been pretty shit if he left you for  _ Orpheus _ ." She giggled, echoed by her girlfriend. "Don't get me wrong, Orpheus is a lovely guy, but… Come on."

Herakles glared at her. "Do you want a black eye or something?"

"Something."

"Something," the other girl echoed, still giggling. "Something, something."

Herakles just kept glaring.

"I'm Eurydice," the first girl said. "I'm Orpheus' ex. I know Hyllas left you for Orpheus, and I know he moved away because Orpheus rejected him, and I know Orpheus rejected him because of me, so… Really I'm the one you're mad at, right?"

"Seriously?"

"No, I just wanted to see how dumb you really are. No, I'm sorry, I just mean… Give yourself a break."

Herakles walked away, leaving Eurydice and Echo (for it was Echo, although he didn't know that) looking after him.

"I screwed that up," Eurydice said.


	11. The Toy Soldier

The Toy Soldier — or TS, as it went by here — had somehow wound up at Olympia. It had also, somehow, ended up befriending Echo and Eurydice, and had invited them round for tea. Because of course it had a place to live.

"TS, where are your parents?" Eurydice asked.

"I Don't Have Any," it replied.

"Be honest," Echo said.

"I Do Not. I Have Never Had Parents."

It was a testament to the politeness of the two girls that this was taken as  _ my parents died before I knew them  _ and not I _ was created and not born _ . Or maybe just a testament to the stupidity of mortals. Either way, they dropped the subject of parents.

"Who pays for this?" Eurydice asked instead. "It's a nice house."

"I Do!" TS smiled widely as it started the kettle and found cups in the cabinet. "Well, No One Does, So I Do."

Here I should mention that TS did not, in fact, pay for the place, and that the person who had previously owned it had been violently murdered, and the rent was now being paid out of their savings, so no one questioned anything; they'd been a bit of a recluse. TS, of course, didn't need to eat, and with Hades and Dr Von Raum, it hadn't even needed to lie on its school forms.

All that aside, it had now made tea for the three of them, and they took a seat.

"I still don't know  _ how  _ you pay for this," Echo said.

"Do Not Worry, Friend Echo." TS smiled. "It Is Taken Care Of. Drink Your Tea. Oh, And Biscuits, I Have Biscuits." It got up to fetch the biscuits.

Eurydice laughed. "It's really very sweet of you, TS. Have you talked to Orpheus, by the way?"

"Not Lately. We Have Not Had Rehearsals Yet."

"Yeah… Eurydice looked in her cup. "I'm kind of worried about him, you know. He said he and Narcissus are together now, but they're obviously not, and I know he's having a hard time."

"I Have An Idea!" TS took out a mobile phone and called a number.

"Hello," came the voice of Dionysus from the other end.

"Hello, This Is TS," it said brightly. "I Need A Favour."

"Where did you get my number?" In retrospect, I don't think Dionysus knew that TS was immortal. "And why are you calling?"

"Oh I Got It From Marius, And I Need A Favour. Make Orpheus My Understudy!"

"I can do that, sure, he's a good kid, but… Marius Von Raum? How do you know him?"

"Oh We've Known Each Other For A Long Time. I Must Go Now, I Have The Girls Over For Tea." It hung up.

"Did you seriously just call Dionysus?" Eurydice asked.

"Like, seriously?" Echo, well, echoed.

"Yes!" TS smiled widely. "He Owes Me."

"For what?" Eurydice asked.

"In General." TS shrugged and held up its cup. "Cheers!"

"Cheers," Echo said and clinked their cups together. 


	12. Orpheus

Lunch was a whole new experience for Orpheus that week. He and Narcissus still sat at the same table as Eurydice and Echo (mostly because there weren't any other free tables in the lunchroom), but now, Narcissus was sitting half in his lap, sharing food and drinks, and pointedly not looking at the girls.

Meanwhile, of course, Eurydice and Echo were holding hands under the table and whispering to each other about how obvious the boys were.

"I have to go," Orpheus said, emptying his can of soda. "I have a rehearsal."

"Oh!" Narcissus hugged him. "Take care, Old Sport. I shall see you soon."

Orpheus smiled fondly. "I will." He kissed Narcissus' cheek and pointedly ignored the flutter in his chest.

Orpheus had missed a couple of rehearsals, so he wasn't surprised when Dionysus pulled him aside immediately. "You need to be here more," he said.

"I've only missed one rehearsal I was on the call sheet for," Orpheus argued.

"You've been on the call sheet for every rehearsal, Orpheus." Dionysus looked disapproving, and he was not a small man, so that was somewhat intimidating to the delicate Orpheus. "Did you not get my email?"

"Um, no." Orpheus straightened up and tried to look confident.

"You're the understudy for TS. Go talk to it, it's gonna help you catch up while I go over some things with Helen."

"Oh." Orpheus nodded and went to find TS, who was in the costume room. "Hey, um, Dionysus said to find you."

"Ah! Orpheus!" It turned around with a smile. "Good To See You!"

"Sure." Orpheus didn't  _ hate  _ TS (although he should, in my opinion), but it had beaten him out for a lead, and he wasn't happy about it. Also it was friends with Eurydice.

"You Will Need To Know The Song! Come Along!" It led the way to a small room, sometimes used as a changing room during shows, currently used as an instrument storage. "Here." It grabbed a mandolin. "Do You Play?"

"Uh, yeah." Orpheus looked around the room, and then grabbed a lyre. "Is this fine, or does it have to be a mandolin?"

"That Will Do!" TS smiled. "Here." It set up a music stand with some sheets. "Do You Want To Try Yourself?"

"Sure." Orpheus started playing; the lyre was a bit bigger than his own, so he played a bit more haltingly than he'd like. "Sorry, it's a bit weird, I'll have to bring my own."

"Not To Worry." TS smiled (it always smiles, I should note, its face is painted) and picked the mandolin back up. "I Will Play For Now, Focus On Singing."

Orpheus nodded and turned his eyes to the music sheets.

He wanted to hate how good TS was, wanted to hate how well their voices blended when it sang the backing vocals, but it had been so kind about it, and it was hard to be angry when singing.


	13. Ariadne

Since Jocasta was fired, Daedalus and Hermes had taken over the social studies class. Both of them had the pedagogical experience of a wet rag, in Ariadne’s mind, and about the same political knowledge.

“As we said last week, we’re assigning a general project. Your groups have been made, I’ll call them out now. Group 1: Ariadne Minos, Herakles Zeus, Oedipus Rex, Orpheus Oeagrus. Group 2: Arachne—”

Ariadne zoned out after that; it wasn’t the worst group imaginable, but it wasn’t good. Herakles was friends with Theseus, to her knowledge, and he and Orpheus had some issues. Oedipus was generally a dick, but at least he was smart. Oh, and he’d gotten Jocasta fired, of course, and could be blamed for the existence of the project and their incompetent teachers, but that was less important. Orpheus was fine, but always looked like he had his head in the clouds.

She barely paid attention as the four of them convened in a corner and discussed their project; Herakles had an idea — which surprised her, she’d assumed him as dumb as Theseus — and the other two agreed, so Ariadne wasn’t about to argue. She had too much going on as it was.

Once the class ended, she went to catch Hermes, who was the less annoying of the two. Sadly, Daedalus was also still there, but she decided to take her chances anyway. “Mr Hermes?”

“Yes, Miss Minos?”

“I was wondering if I could be in a different group?”

“Why?” This from Daedalus, who’d looked over at her.

“Oh, uh…” Ariadne was good at thinking quickly. “I wanted to do something about women, since you said a marginalised group, but I’m in a group of all boys, and they don’t wanna do it.”

“You should have put that on your preference form last week.” Daedalus turned his head back to the papers he was looking through.

“I did,” Ariadne lied.

“It wasn’t there,” Hermes said. “I’m sorry, Miss Minos, we can’t help you.”

“But, I need—”

“We said no.” Daedalus’ tone brooked no argument.

“Fine.” Ariadne turned to leave. “Fine then.” 

Her rage kept her back straight even through the sideways glances and barely-concealed laughs that accompanied her down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've almost gotta feel sorry for her


	14. Oedipus

Oedipus couldn’t say he was happy with the group he’d been assigned, or particularly happy with the topic, but he had bigger things to worry about, so he went to find Ulysses.

They were leaning against a railing a few feet down the street from the science building, for once not smoking, but just staring at the sky.

“Hey Ulysses.” Oedipus leaned against the railing next to them. “I have a question.”

“Here.” They handed him a pack of cigarettes; a sphinx on the front, and illegible writing in what Oedipus thought might be Sanskrit, but certainly wasn’t a language he recognised.

“I don’t need to smoke,” he said, irritated. “I wanna talk about the fact that there are literal fucking immortals at this school.”

“Trust me, you need the cigarette. And you don’t owe me for that pack.”

“Fine.” Oedipus pocketed the pack and took out the cigarette he’d gotten the week before, still unsmoked. “Got a light?”

Ulysses handed them a lighter.

“So,” Oedipus said once he’d coughed his way through the first two drags (he wasn’t a smoker). “What are we gonna do about the immortals?”

“Nothing. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Okay, fine.” Oedipus didn’t have the energy to argue, and he technically had his entire life. “Where’d you get these cigarettes, by the way? What language is this?”

“I got them from Hades, and I don’t know. I’ve asked around online, but nothing. The sphinx seems to be the only recognisable thing, but no one’s ever heard of a cigarette brand that has anything to do with sphinxes, not ones that are still produced. This is what they gave me when I found out about the Olympians, so now I’m giving you some. None of the ones I sell are Sphinx, though, I sell the cheap ones.”

“For 50p each?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re overcharging.”

“They can’t get them any other way.” Ulysses took a battered pack of Sphinx out of their pocket and lit one. “I don’t care about the immortals, though, like, what can we do? They’re immortal, Oedipus. I think Hades at least is an alien.”

“We can expose them! Or something! It isn’t right.”

“You’re just mad because Jocasta dumped you.”

“I dumped her, I’ll have you know,” Oedipus said, getting prickly. “Whatever. In other news, I have to do a group project about dropouts, do you wanna help?”

“No.”

“Yes you do.” And with that, Oedipus walked away.


	15. Herakles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to post this yesterday, so two chapters back to back if I remember another one tomorrow

Herakles had known he’d have to work with Orpheus. That didn’t mean he was actually prepared to sit across from the kid in class, when Oedipus went to smoke, and Ariadne went to the bathroom.

“Just don’t screw it up this time,” Herakles said, already annoyed.

Orpheus looked up. “What happened with Hyllas was your fault. If you hadn’t been so angry, he’d still be here.”

Herakles took a deep breath to stop himself from punching Orpheus through a wall.

Just then, Ariadne returned and sat back down. “Control yourself,” she commanded Herakles. “We need Orpheus to make this project work.”

“Fine.” Herakles sighed. “But only out of respect for your old man. He helped me out once.” You see, Herakles was one of the students whose information had been compromised by the Minotaur Software, but unlike most, he’d benefitted; a small glitch, which had changed his grade from an E to a D in geography, preventing him from having to retake the class. No one but Herakles himself had noticed, but he’d told Ariadne.

She shook her head at him. “Whatever. We still need him, the assignment brief says to have a creative component, and Orpheus looks to have brought his lyre.”

“Right.” Herakles breathed deep once again and reminded himself of Hades’ promise to fix his chemistry grade. He needed this done, even if it meant working with the likes of Orpheus.

At least Ariadne looked about as pained as he did; he’d have to ask Theseus if there was anything  _ else _ he could use against Ariadne.

“I can write some music,” Orpheus said, his voice frail, but confident. “If that’s what you need me to do.”

“Yeah. And  _ don’t screw it up _ .”

“I already said Hyllas was your fault,” Orpheus defended.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ariadne looked like she wanted to be somewhere else. “Orpheus, go write your song, we’ll keep working here.”

And so they did. Oedipus returned, looking significantly more shaken, but with something like answers from Ulysses, although they did collectively decide that they’d need to go talk to them all together the following day.

Herakles mentally checked out, but he didn’t punch anyone, and he considered that a win (as do I; admirable, really, with someone as deeply annoying as Oedipus and Ariadne).


	16. Ulysses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time is not real anymore, I apologise. Hopefully I'll get back on track with updating

Ulysses was pleasantly buzzed, sitting against a wall in a corner near the school, smoking a cigarette and enjoying their high and their peace.

A peace that was quickly interrupted by the arrival of four school kids in suits. Ulysses knew all of them; Herakles, who only wore a suit because his father told him to; Oedipus, who did it to seem older; Ariadne, who wore it because she didn’t know how to dress any other way; and Orpheus, who usually wouldn’t wear a suit, but was presumably in one for rehearsal purposes. He was also carrying a lyre case on his back, seemingly oblivious to the weight, despite his frail build.

Oedipus reached out a hand to Ulysses. “Get up, we need to talk to you.”

“I can talk from here,” Ulysses replied, annoyed. “And also, no you don’t.”

“Yes, we do.” Ariadne, to their surprise, was the first to sit down. “Also, give me my smokes for the week.” She handed them a tenner.

Ulysses handed over a pack of cigarettes, and waited for Ariadne to light one up. “I just want to enjoy my peace and quiet.”

“Well, you can’t.” Herakles towered over Ulysses, probably looking less intimidating than he wanted to. “We’re here, and you can’t very well make us leave.”

“Might as well help us,” Orpheus finished.

Ulysses sighed; watching the four of them working together while hating each other was actually quite entertaining. “Fine. What do you want to know.”

“Why did you drop out?” Ariadne asked. “And why do you keep hanging around?”

“I’d learned what I had to learn.” Ulysses shrugged and lit up a plain cigarette. “And kids pay well for what their parents won’t buy them.”

“Booze and cigarettes?” Oedipus asked drily. “Or do you sell drugs as well?”

“No, drugs I keep for myself. Booze and cigarettes pay well enough, and I don’t need little blitzed-out addicts hanging about.” Ulysses enjoyed watching Orpheus flinch slightly, as though he hadn’t had a taste of the same. “Mostly.” They weren’t going to rat Orpheus out — bad business policy, that — but that didn’t mean they couldn’t egg him on a bit.

“Where do you get them?” This from Orpheus, who’d regained his courage.

“Are you anonymising this?”

“Of course,” Ariadne replied.

“Hades. They don’t even charge, I think they just think it’s fun.”

“Hmm.” Oedipus was the one taking notes. “Thank you, Ulysses.”

“You’re welcome. Now fuck off, it’s about time for Hades to show up, and they won’t with all of you around.”

To the suits’ credits, they did leave after that, even if Ulysses suspected at least Ariadne of knowing that they were lying.


	17. Orpheus

Orpheus hurried to lunch after the interview with Ulysses; he was already late, and he wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of being held back further by someone, somehow; Ulysses scared him enough as it was.

“Ah, there you are, old sport.” Narcissus smiled widely and held out his arms when Orpheus came up to their table.

Orpheus smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek, shooting a sidewards glance at Eurydice at the other end; she was showing Echo something on her phone and not looking at them. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, sitting down next to Narcissus on the bench. “Got held up in class.”

“Year 13,” Narcissus said, smiling and wrapping an arm around Orpheus. “I get it.”

“No you don’t.” Orpheus smiled, his heart alarmingly loud. Poor fucker. “You’re in year 12.”

“I can empathise.” Narcissus kissed his cheek, smiling. “Year 13 is my green light.”

Orpheus understood the reference, but still shook his head as though he didn’t. “Tell me,” he said.

So Narcissus spent the rest of their lunch hour explaining the book he was obsessed with, playing up the flirting to an impressive degree, seemingly oblivious to the loudness of Orpheus’ heartbeat.

After lunch, Orpheus had a play rehearsal. He’d brought his own lyre from home, and this time, he didn’t stumble when he and TS played through the song.

“Good Job!” TS said. “You Were Quite Right, Old Man, It Was Just That Your Lyre Was Too Big The Other Day.”

“Of course I was right,” Orpheus replied, slightly annoyed. He liked TS (though why I can’t imagine) but it was annoying.

“Of Course,” TS conceded.d. "I Did Not Mean It Rudely."

"I know you didn't, TS." Orpheus smiled. "I'm just tired today."

"Oh! Here!" TS handed Orpheus a flask.

He sniffed it, suspicion on his face. "What is this?" It didn't smell of alcohol.

"Tea!"

"Alright." Orpheus took a swig; it was tea, lemony and lukewarm, but not as awful as he'd expected. "Thanks, TS."

"You're Quite Welcome, Old Friend!"

TS' manners reminded Orpheus, strangely, of Narcissus' habit of stealing lines from F. Scott Fitzgerald, the dated language, the "old" prefix for nicknames.

He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that, so he decided not to, and turn his attention back to the play at hand.


	18. Ariadne

Dr. Von Raum (not a real doctor, she was pretty sure) had managed to corner Ariadne before a class. “I just wanted to check in,” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. “You were really out of it last week, and it sounded like you’re having a rough time.”

“I’m fine,” she said dismissively. Then she saw Theseus coming down the hall. “Just excuse me for a moment, sir.” She stepped out in front of him, Dr. Von Raum still behind her; it was strangely calming to have a staff member present, even one as incompetent as him. “Theseus?”

“What do you want?” How did he always manage an air of superiority?

“Just to ask you a question.” Ariadne put on her sweetest voice. “Do you have time?”

“Want another  _ favour _ ?” His voice was sharp with contempt and schadenfreude. “Or just another kiss?”

She had to physically restrain herself from slapping him. “No, I just wanted to know how you thought you could get through Year 13 without me. I know you have the cheating guides, of course, but you didn’t think you’d get the real ones, did you?” She kept her voice honeyed sweet.

Dr. Von Raum is dumber than he looks, which is frankly impressive. He fell for Ariadne’s manipulation hook, line, and sinker, and stepped in only when Theseus raised a hand. “That’s enough.” He grabbed Theseus’ arm with ease.

“What the fuck.” Theseus yanked his hand back. “That’s not a hand.”

Dr. Von Raum looked at his hand. “It’s a prosthetic,” he said calmly. “Lots of people have them.”

“Not with that much movement they don’t.” Theseus looked genuinely frightened. “That’s some Tesla shit.” He turned and ran.

Dr. Von Raum shrugged and turned to Ariadne. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She straightened her back. “I have a yearbook meeting to get to.”

And with that, she walked off to her meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marius has rights, but he's a dumbass


	19. Oedipus

Ulysses and Oedipus were sitting against a railing in the school yard. “We need to do something,” Oedipus said; it was not the first time he’d said this.

“Do what?” Ulysses asked. “They’re immortal, don’t you think they can just… Make it all disappear?”   
“We have to try.” Oedipus slammed his head back against the wall. “We can’t just let them get away with it.”   
“What exactly are they getting away with, Oedipus? Being immortal? They’re running a school, and they’re doing it fine. Sure, Hades helps me with booze and cigarettes, but that’s just Hades. In general, what are they doing?”   
“Jocasta—”   
“Got fired. Wonder if she lost her immortality too, do you know?”   
“I don’t know.” Oedipus sighed. “I don’t  _ want _ to know, if I’m being honest.”

“Why not?” Ulysses lit a cigarette.

“Well, either she is, and what does that mean for the other teachers? What does that mean for Laius? Is he immortal? Is he actually like 30 and it’s just Jocasta having a taste for younger men?” The bitterness in Oedipus’ voice was impossible to miss. “Or she isn’t, and then what? She’ll die, probably earlier than she thought she would when she became immortal — or if she was born immortal, she didn’t think she’d ever die. And then I killed her. I don’t want to know. Schrödinger’s cat; as long as I don’t know, neither is true.”

“As long as you don’t know, both are true,” Ulysses corrected.

“Fuck off.” Oedipus sighed. “It’s not too bad. If I get an A on this project I can transfer to a boarding school, I’m up for a scholarship. Then I can just… Leave. Ignore all of this. If I can’t change it.”

“You can’t. That’s the way of the Sphinx.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The thing that keeps them immortal, well, most of them. They call it the Sphinx, well, Hades did. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I guess it has something to do with the cigarettes.”

“Do you think they sell them?”   
“Not the packs we have. But maybe in some other way. I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Oedipus took the pack of Sphinx cigarettes out of his pocket and looked at them for a few seconds, then took one out. “Light?”

Ulysses handed him a box of matches. “Good luck, Oedipus.” They got up. “I don’t wanna be involved in this anymore.”   
“Yeah, me either.” Oedipus stayed on the ground for much longer, slowly making his way through the single cigarette.


	20. Herakles

The Zeus family home had once been an estate, but some not-so-distant ancestor had sold most of the land, so now it was just a big house with a fuck-off large garden.

A garden usually overrun with gorgeous flowers and little tea nooks, but since Herakles’ stepmother, Hera, had left the year before, the tea nooks had disappeared, and the weeds had been allowed free reign.

Herakles got up early in the mornings, or perhaps he never slept; night was the time when his father was not around. On this particular morning, in the dew before the dawn, he was out in the garden, pulling up weeds and tossing them to the side. See, Hera had always despised Herakles for his existence — she had been married to his father long before he’d been born — but Herakles had always liked the woman, liked the way she kept everything neat, liked the way she drew his father’s attention from him. And now that she was gone, he was determined to pretend she wasn’t, because it was much better than acknowledging that he was alone with his father, his countless siblings gone to their own lives.

He was listening to music and muttering angrily to himself, pulling up the weeds with more force than perhaps necessary, and so he didn’t hear his father arrive until he spoke.

“I hope you’re making time for a shower before school like this.”

Herakles didn’t start, but he gritted his teeth before replying. “Of course, father.”

“You’re a part of this family, son. Better act like it.”

Herakles threw another weed to the side and got up. “I’m going for a round in the gym before class,” he said, ignoring his father as he went inside through the basement doors.

He considered stealing one of the many photographs Don Zeus kept of himself to pin to his punching bag, but resigned himself to imagination, as it was a short round, before he showered and walked off to school.

He saw Orpheus in the hallway, and decided that the kid was an excellent target for his anger, and so, he shoved him in a broom closet and barred the door.


	21. The Toy Soldier

Watching Orpheus being shoved into a closet did entertain TS — and really, why wouldn’t it — but it also quite liked him, so it went and got him out. “Hello Old Chap! Quite A Fright You Got There!”

“Uh, yeah.” Orpheus got out of the closet and brushed himself off. “Thanks, TS. I thought I was gonna be late for rehearsal.”

“Go Now! You Have Time!”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“No, I Have Important Stuff To Do. Please Let Dionysus Know For Me.”

“I will.” Orpheus nodded and went off to rehearsal.

Meanwhile, the Toy Soldier made its way to where we had parked the Aurora, in an out-of-the-way forest Raphaella, Tim and I had found for the purpose while the others had their fun being in school; there was a crew meeting to be had.

“Well, glad you could all make it,” I said when everyone arrived. “Toy Soldier,  _ what _ are you wearing.”

“My Costume!” It spun in a circle to show off its white dress and pale green cloak.

“Oh joy,” I replied.

“It doesn’t matter,” Raphaella interjected. “Why did you invite everyone back?”

“I’d like to know too.” Brian looked stressed. “I’m supposed to be at work! I have papers to grade.”

“No one cares, Brian.” This from Ashes. “Jonny, get on with it.”

“We’re leaving,” I announced. “At least we are soon. I’m sick of Earth, no offense Tim.”

“None taken.” He smiled. “So am I.”

“Oh good.” I looked around. “Any objections?”

“We’re staying at least another two weeks,” Ashes said. “After that, whatever.”

I sighed. “Fine. Two weeks, then we’re taking off. If anyone is missing, we’re leaving them behind,  _ capice _ ?”

Everyone nodded, except Ashes, who rolled their eyes at me. “Not like you can leave without Brian,” they said. “Certainly not with Nastya still AWOL.”

“Yes, yes, well, Brian, will you promise to be here in two weeks so we can go?”

“I promise.”

“There you go!” I turned to Ashes, triumphant. “He’s Boring Brian! He can’t break his promise!”

“Fine.” Ashes rolled their eyes and lit a cigarette. “We’re going in two weeks. Can I leave now?”

“Whatever.” I gestured vaguely.

“You could stay for tea,” Raphaella suggested.

“No, it’s okay.” Ashes got up. “TS, Brian, Marius, are you with me?”

They all nodded and left together, back to their mortal jobs, of which they’d grown so fond.


	22. Orpheus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya winning, gays?

Narcissus was drunk. Orpheus didn’t mind; he liked Narcissus’ large house, liked the stained glass windows and the velvet-upholstery fainting couches and loveseats, liked the phonograph that Narcissus used to play music for them, equal parts classics and mid-century jazz. He also liked the way his friend’s eyes shone, the way he always seemed to soften with cheap vodka, the way he lounged on a fainting couch, pulling Orpheus down with him and offering him the bottle.

Orpheus took it. “Narcissus?”

“What’s up, old sport?”

Orpheus smiled. “Thank you for… Everything. Helping with Eurydice, and with TS, and…”   
“Oh, TS didn’t deserve that lead.” Narcissus waved his hand dismissively, and I’m inclined to agree. “You’re far more talented.”

“Thank you.” Orpheus felt his cheeks heat up. “But really, it is very talented and nice—”

“No no no.” Narcissus was having none of it. “Have you seen it? It’s so creepy to look at, not to mention talk to, I mean, when does it think it’s from? 1915?”

“Narcissus, you talk like you’re from 1922,” Orpheus reminded him gently.

“Don’t mind it, old sport.” Narcissus smiled, and then leaned in to kiss Orpheus. “Is this okay?”

“Uh, yeah.” Orpheus’ heart was beating fast.

“Good. Better you than TS. Have you seen its skin? It looks like it’s made of wood. And pretending to be so happy all the time, no one is, it’s fucking creepy.”

Orpheus laughed. “It’s really very nice.” He kissed Narcissus again, getting used to it, but still flushing. “Still, rather you.”   
“I’m glad.” Narcissus kept kissing him.

I’m getting rather bored with this display, all you need to know is that the boys stayed on the fainting couch with their vodka until Narcissus’ parents returned, and then went up to his bedroom to continue, the entire time denying their feelings for each other and talking about Echo and Eurydice and how jealous they would be, although they could not see them, and likely wouldn’t have been jealous anyway, as they were having a similar interaction with far less repression across town.


	23. Ariadne

The four students sat, once again, in class, arguing. Ariadne barely paid attention; she had an appointment with her father that afternoon, the first time she’d see him since his arrest two months prior, and she was far more worried about that than whatever this project was. Besides, the boys simply argued, nothing productive, and she wasn’t in the mood.

She went to Hermes after the class. “Please move me.” It wasn’t a question.

“No.” Hermes barely looked up from his papers. “I can’t do that Ms Minos.”

“Why not?” She let her frustration show. “I can’t work with this, I certainly can’t do my best work. Are you really going to sabotage this project for me.”

“Ms Minos.” Hermes looked up at her. “If you have an issue with your fellow students, take it to the counsellor. However, this project has been going for two weeks, and asking another group to accommodate an extra member, or indeed asking someone to switch, would not be okay. I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, but you told me I couldn’t switch in the beginning either.” Ariadne’s irritation was mounting. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“Right now, you’re supposed to get to your next class.” Hermes looked back down at his work.

Ariadne made a noise of frustration and left; not to class, as Hermes had said, but to find Ulysses.

“The usual?” They asked when they saw her.

“Double.” She handed them the money, and received four packs of cigarettes. “It’s a rough week.”

“Looks like it.” Ulysses lit the cigarette she held up; Ariadne never carried a lighter on school grounds, and they were used to this. “You know I don’t talk about that stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m not asking you to.” Ariadne checked her watch; she was already late, and this class was her last. “I’m taking an early afternoon,” she announced, to no one in particular, walking off.


	24. Oedipus

Oedipus regretted giving Jocasta his phone number. Mostly it was fine, she was fine, but sometimes… She’d call in the middle of the night, or during class time, and normally he just ignored it, but she called while he was talking to Ulysses, and they gestured for him to pick up, so he did.

“What do you want?” He didn’t mean to sound quite so curt, but he had not the heart to regret it.

“So you finally pick up?” Her tone wasn’t as sarcastic as her words. “Took you long enough.”

“I asked what you want.”

“Can I see you again?” Her tone changed to the one Oedipus knew so well. “I’ve missed you.”

“I said we were done.” He kept his composure. Barely. “Stop calling me.”

“Oedipus…”   
“I said stop.” He hung up. “I can’t wait to leave this town.”

Ulysses handed him a cigarette. “My treat,” they said. “You’ve earned it.”   
“For what?” Oedipus took the cigarette and lit it up; he barely coughed anymore.

Ulysses lit up a cigarette of their own. “For letting me have an ear to your personal drama.” They laughed. “Most interesting thing that’s happened all week. By the way, are you still on the whole  _ doing something about the Olympians _ train?”

“No.” Oedipus sighed deeply. “No, I’m not. At this point I just want to leave.”

“To where?”

“For now, the private school across town. Once I finish my A-levels… Uni, I suppose. Don’t know where yet. Far away from here. Doesn’t matter.”

“You really think leaving will help?”   
“What?”

“I mean…” Ulysses gestured to the school. “All this will still be here. You’ll still know. You’ll still have that pack of Sphinx. You’ll still have the affair with Jocasta as a thing that happened in your life, even if you pretend it didn’t. Will it help?”

“No one else will know.” It wasn’t an answer, and Oedipus knew it. He sighed. “If I can just… Just at least be me. Just at least be alone with this. Just at least get away.”

“It won’t help.” Ulysses threw down their cigarette. “But do give me a call if it does, I’d love to leave.”

“Yeah sure.” Oedipus packed as much sarcasm into the phrase as he could. “I have to get back to class. See you around, Ulysses.”   
“See you around.” Ulysses watched him leave, mildly amused.


	25. Herakles

There was something calming and familiar about the school’s gym; similar to the one Herakles had at home, but usually without the threat of his father coming in. Usually, because he was on the school board and theoretically could walk in anytime he liked, but he was also a busy man who didn’t have time for that sort of stuff.

Herakles and Theseus were running laps, occasionally taking breaks to chat. “Hey,” Herakles said, out of breath, during one of their breaks. “Do you know anything about Ariadne?”   
“What should I know?” Theseus asked, just slightly less out of breath.

“I don’t know, anything. She’s being a pain in class, I wanna have something to shut her up.”   
“Oh.” Theseus thought for a moment; impressive, with the brain he had. “Uhh, she hasn’t seen her dad since he got got. At least last I heard, few weeks back.”

“Nice.” Herakles nodded. “Ready for another lap?”   
“I’ll race you.” Theseus took off.

“Jerk,” Herakles muttered, but he managed to catch up quick enough.

Once they were done, he barely had time for a shower before social studies class, but he made it before Ariadne, and took the seat she was usually in.

She didn’t acknowledge it when she arrived, but she acknowledged when Herakles spoke. “Hey Ariadne. How’s you dad doing?”

She froze up for a second, then shook her head, a strand of her falling out of her perfect bun. “He’s fine,” she replied. “I went to see him yesterday.”

Herakles’ disappointment was palpable. “Fine. Do you wanna do this work?”

“Yes.” She took out her notes. “By the way, how’s your stepmother?”   
“Just fine.” Herakles wasn’t half the actor Ariadne was; he spoke through gritted teeth. “Work, Ariadne.”   
“Work, Herakles.” She mimicked his tone almost perfectly.

“Will you two shut up?” Oedipus asked. “I talked to Ulysses the other day, and—”

The rest of their class was really rather uninteresting.


	26. Ulysses

Hades and Ulysses were on a roof. It wasn’t Ulysses’ prerogative to question how they’d gotten up there; Hades’ secret. (I, however, can absolutely question it, but that does not mean I get an answer.)

Hades handed Ulysses a cigarette. “You need to stop this conspiracy thing,” they said.

“What conspiracy thing?”

“Oedipus.”

“Oh. I’m trying.”   
“Are you?”

“Yeah. By the way, Hades, are you an alien?”

Hades laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”   
“You look human.”

They shrugged. "Maybe I am. Doesn't mean I'm from Earth."

"Where are you from?"

"Malone. Don't bother looking for it, it doesn't exist anymore." They paused. "Well, actually I don't think there's a society there yet. Time is weird."

"Huh." Ulysses sat in silence, smoking, for a bit. "Can I see your spaceship?"

"Who said I had a spaceship?" Ulysses didn't notice, but Hades was amused. "But no, you cannot."

"So you  _ do  _ have a spaceship?"

"She doesn't belong to me." Hades took a drag of their cigarette. "She doesn't belong to anyone, I think. I don't know, I just live there."

"Huh." Ulysses lit another cigarette. "It's a strange world." They paused for a moment. "Are the other teachers aliens?"

"Not all of them, no. Just me, Brian, and Marius." Hades thought. "Oh and the Toy Soldier, TS, although it's a student and not a teacher."

"Huh. Figures." Ulysses laid down on the roof. "Anyone else?"

"Not as far as I know." Hades jumped off the roof. "I have a class, see you around," they yelled from the ground.

"See you," Ulysses yelled back. Then they sat up and looked around; they didn't know how to get off of the roof.


	27. Orpheus

Echo cornered Orpheus in the hallway. “Um, hi Echo.” Orpheus looked uncomfortable, eyes casting around for a way out. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to know how things are with you and Narcissus.” Echo smiled innocently. “Have you asked each other out yet?”

“Um, what? We’re already together, Echo, I don’t know what you mean, things are fine, we’ve been together for weeks now.” Orpheus spoke too quickly to convince anyone, let alone Echo.

She smiled. “Of course. You know, I think Narcissus thinks you’re faking it, he thinks that a lot. Have you tried asking him properly?”

“What do you mean properly?” Orpheus was sweating. “You know, when you’re alone and stuff.”

“Um, sure, thanks Echo. I have a rehearsal now.”

“Of course.” She stepped aside so that he could walk past her.

Orpheus rushed down to the auditorium to find TS; they were practicing their monologue, and since they were two of the most diligent students (TS more so than Orpheus, somehow), Dionysus had decided to leave the two of them to it.

“Orpheus! You Look Distressed, Old Chap!” TS was already there.

“Um, sorry, ran into Echo, it was… Weird.” Orpheus sighed. “TS, do you have any advice?”

“On What, Friend Orpheus?”

“Like, relationships?” Orpheus laughed nervously. “Um, Narcissus, I guess.”   
“I Thought You And Narcissus Were Already Together.” TS looked decidedly less enthusiastic. “I Do Not Like Him, Orpheus.”

“He’s my friend, TS, be nice.” Orpheus smiled a little. “Yeah so, um, that was actually… We aren’t together, not really. We just pretend for Eurydice and Echo. But um… I really like him, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Tell Him!” Advised TS, who has never, to my knowledge, had a functional relationship. “Why Not?”

“Because… What if he doesn’t like me back? What if he’s disgusted with me?”   
“No One Could Be Disgusted With You, Friend Orpheus.” TS patted him on the shoulder. “It Will Be Okay.”

“Thank you, TS.” Orpheus smiled. “Shall we?”

“Oh rather!” TS picked up its script and launched into the monologue.


	28. Ariadne

Ariadne was hiding in Dr Von Raum’s office, rather than attend her English class. She had near-perfect attendance and top grades anyway, and Theseus was in that class.

“What’s bothering you, Ariadne?” Dr Von Raum asked. “You know you can tell me.”

She sighed. “I’m fine, it’s just a migraine,” she said. At least, that was the lie she’d told. “Nothing special, I just need to lay down for a while.”

“Of course.” He smiled indulgently. “Nonetheless.”

She sighed; he’d get it out of her eventually, he always did. “I just… After everything with my parents, it felt like my life was over. Sins of the fathers and all that crap. And I know I’m only 18 and can move on, but unless I change my name — and I won’t, I’m proud of my heritage — I’ll always be the Minos girl. The one whose parents caused the biggest school scandal in the UK. And then with Theseus… I knew it wasn’t gonna matter after school, but at least for this year, I could be okay, I could be Theseus’ girlfriend, instead of Minos’ daughter. And then… Well, you saw that.”

“I did.” If Ariadne had paid attention, she’d notice how much effort Dr Von Raum was putting into not smiling. She wasn’t. “Is that really all?”

“Yes,” she lied decidedly. “At least that’s all I’m telling you.”

“Of course.” Dr Von Raum was appropriately amused. “How’s the migraine?”   
“Fine. What’s the time?”

“You won’t make it back to class, five minutes left.”

“Perfect.” Ariadne sat up and handed the ice pack back to Dr Von Raum. “I have a yearbook meeting.” She didn’t wait for his response before leaving.

The meeting was its usual drama, but this time, it wasn’t about her. Arachne had pissed off Athena, the teacher in charge of the yearbook, which resulted in her being kicked off, which meant that the others were arguing about who had to pick up her slack. Ariadne ignored it, mostly, and just listened. It would pass.

She was right, although it passed with her having to pick up what Arachne had been doing. Great. More useless work.


	29. Oedipus

Oedipus felt a little like a kindergarten teacher trying to corral toddlers, and a lot like he wanted to scream. “Herakles, stop intimidating Orpheus,” he said, exasperated.

“Why?” Herakles asked, still leaning threateningly over poor Orpheus, who was backed into a corner.

“Because we need him.” This was Ariadne. “And we don’t need your thick skull.”

While that wasn’t true, Oedipus was glad for the backup. “Ariadne is right. You’re gonna give him a heart attack, and then what? Are  _ you _ gonna play?”

“Fine.” Herakles backed off.

“Thank you.” Orpheus’ voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Whatever.” Oedipus sighed. “I’m gonna go find Ulysses. You three can keep working.” He spotted Orpheus’ scared glance at Herakles, and cursed his own good heart. “Actually, Orpheus, come with me, Ariadne and Herakles can hold up their own.” He ignored Ariadne’s angry eyes.

Orpheus was quiet, but followed. “Thank you,” he said again, once they were out of the room. “I don’t think Herakles likes me much.”

“Yeah, well, neither do I,” Oedipus replied. “Go do your music thing, I need to speak to Ulysses alone.”

Orpheus nodded and darted off, leaving Oedipus to go find Ulysses alone.

They were sitting against a fence in the schoolyard. “Hey Oedipus,” they said when he sat down. “What’s up?”

“I did some research,” Oedipus said, pulling the packet of Sphinx cigarettes out of his pocket. “You know these don’t exist, right?”

“Yeah, we established that, I got them from Hades, who’s an alien.”

“Right, I know, I know. But there’s something else. I had a look at them in the lab, they’re a death trap. More so than regular cigarettes.”   
“You have access to a lab?”

“Yeah, my dad’s a chemist, what’s it to you? Anyway, I had a look, these are almost certainly gonna kill anyone who’s even close to them. Including both of us.”   
Ulysses shrugged. “Well, what a way to go.” They lit up a cigarette. “Too late anyway, right?”

“Right.” Oedipus didn’t have quite the nihilistic streak that Ulysses seemed to have, but he followed their lead and lit up one of his own Sphinx cigarettes. “Right.”

“Are you going to leave now? You’ve said your piece.”   
“No, I have questions. Not about the immortals.”

“Oh joy.” Ulysses sighed. “You’re not gonna go away, are you?”

“Nope. Not until you answer.”

“Fine then. What’s question one?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take pride in never addressing the actual school project this is centred around


	30. Herakles

Dealing with emotions was not Herakles’ strong suit; instead, he turned to violence. In this particular case, it was violence against a punching bag in the school’s gym, so it wasn’t like he was hurting anyone… Sadly.

Well, no one except himself, that is; a particularly strong punch had him yell out in pain as he dislocated a knuckle. Unfortunately for him, this in turn led to him being escorted to Dr Von Raum’s office by his gym teacher.

“Oh, hello Herakles.” Dr Von Raum cleared a cot and gestured for Herakles to sit. “What can I do for you today?”

Herakles sat. “Dislocated a knuckle, I think,” he said, holding up his hand.

“Hmm.” Dr Von Raum took a look at it. “Just a sprain, I think.” It wasn’t; Herakles would have to go to a hospital later to have it reset. “Here.” He gave him an ice pack. “Hold it up now, don’t want it to swell.”

“Right.” Herakles laid down and decided to at least make good use of the break from class.

“So.” Dr Von Raum sat next to him, his tone deceptively conversational. “What have you been up to lately?”

“Uh, not much, I guess.” Herakles was determined not to say anything. “Just school, mostly.”

“Of course. And how’s home?”   
“Fine. Dad isn't around much, but that’s okay, as long as I get food and stuff it doesn’t really matter.”

“Well, naturally. And what of your mother?”

“Never knew her. Well, that’s not true I guess, but it’s been a few years. Since Dad snapped me up.” Herakles was aware that he was beginning to say more than planned, but he couldn’t quite stop himself. “Hera never liked me, but that was okay too. She was still… Around, you know?”

“Yes, of course.” Dr Von Raum hesitated, an artificial pause that would’ve made me shoot him, had I been there. “You miss her?” He made it sound like a question, as though he didn’t already know.

And that was the breaking point for Herakles; everyone has one, with Marius Von Raum, a point at which you just start talking. And talking. And talking. All of his little petty worries and shitty human problems, and Dr Von Raum just listened and nodded at the right places.


	31. Ulysses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm projecting on Herakles, what of it?

When Herakles exited the school to get to the hospital, Ulysses was standing outside the door. “Hey Herakles,” they said when he walked past.

“What?” He was still in a bad mood, and even with a dislocated knuckle, he was pretty sure he could knock out Ulysses easy enough.

“I just remembered, you and Hyllas were together, weren’t you?” They smiled when they saw Herakles’ rage. “I just wanted to say, I still see him sometimes, you know, this isn’t the only school I hang out at. He’s a town over. You have a car, don’t you? Why don’t you go see him?”

“None of your business.” Herakles looked like all the anger drained out of him at once. “He’s that close?”

“Yeah, of course, still live in the same house and everything.” Ulysses was enjoying themself immensely. “What, you didn’t think his parents would pack up and go just because he had a little falling out, did you?”

Herakles was easy to rile up. “You…” He didn’t have the words, but to his credit, he hadn’t resorted to violence just yet.

Ulysses held up their hands. “Just thought you should know. Also, you’re working with Oedipus on that dumb project he keeps bothering me about, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You know why Jocasta was fired? It’s ‘cause she slept with Oedipus.”

Herakles almost smiled.

“Yeah, thought so. Have fun with that, now fuck off.”   
“I already knew,” he said. “I just wasn’t sure.”

“Well, now you are. Hades told me.”

“Damn.” Herakles shrugged. “Whatever. I need to go.”

Ulysses nodded and watched him leave; Herakles was an interesting kid to them, all anger and snark, but there was something else there. Something not quite soft.

They shook the thought away. He’d be gone soon enough anyway, and they didn’t make a habit of caring.


	32. Orpheus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the unannounced hiatus, life happened, here, have some useless gays

TS stayed late after a rehearsal when Orpheus said he wanted to stick around. “You don’t have to stay, TS,” Orpheus said. “Your parents will be missing you.” As for Orpheus’ parents, well, he came and went as he pleased, he knew they wouldn’t ask.

TS shook its head. “I Don’t Have Parents,” it said cheerfully. “And I Don’t Mind. You Do Better When You Have Feedback, Old Chap.”

“I… Yes, that’s true.” Orpheus smiled. “I just… I wasn’t planning on working on the play, not really. Just play for myself for a bit.”

“Oh!” TS clapped its hand. “I Do So Want To Hear You Play.”

“Oh… Um, okay.” Orpheus took out his lyre again and started playing, a soft, simple melody. After a moment he started singing, his voice as high and delicate as to be expected from his fragile build.

TS waited, with rapt attention, until Orpheus was done; then it clapped. “Oh That Was Wonderful, Friend Orpheus!”

“Thank you, TS.” Orpheus blushed slightly. “I uhh… I wrote it for Narcissus. Well, I wrote it for Eurydice way back when, but I rewrote it and I wanna play it for him but I’m scared of what he’ll think because what if he doesn’t like me that way and—”

“Friend Orpheus.” TS put a hand on Orpheus’ shoulder. “Are You And Narcissus Not Together?”

“Well, yeah, but… I mean, that’s not real. We’re just doing that to make Eurydice and Echo jealous, but I think maybe I’m falling for Narcissus now, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Orpheus.” TS looked at him like it had infinite wisdom, which is a trick that immortals can pull, even the dumbest immortals. “You Will Never Know If You Do Not Tell Him.”

Orpheus squirmed. “I know that! But… What if he doesn’t like me back?”

“I Think He Does, But Even Then, You Will Have Learned Something Valuable, Old Chap.” TS nodded towards the lute. “Play Him The Song.”

Orpheus nodded. “I will. Thanks, TS.”   
“Of Course, Friend Orpheus.”


	33. Ariadne

The classroom was stuffy, or perhaps Ariadne was just fed up. She didn’t much care; it was awful, and that was what mattered.

Herakles and Oedipus were arguing, and Orpheus was picking away on his lyre with the strings muted, muttering what she was pretty sure was a pathetic love song.

“Boys.” Ariadne knocked on the table. “You three have done a grand total of nothing all week. Now, I don’t care what you think about this project, or about each other, or me. But if you don’t pick up some fucking slack, it’s time to go, understood?”

“Yes, Ariadne,” Orpheus mumbled.

Oedipus nodded. “See Herakles? We don’t have time to fight.”

“You started it,” Herakles argued, but he reached for the paper Ariadne handed him. “But whatever, what should I do?”

“Type that up,” she said. “Oedipus’ handwriting is a mess and I need it digital anyway. Oedipus, do you have anything else?”

“Right.” He handed her another paper. “Just this. Ulysses is almost impossible to talk to.”

“Right.” She scanned the paper. “What’s the Sphinx?”

Oedipus yanked it back. “Wrong notes,” he said. “Here, this is for the project.”

“What’s the other thing?” Ariadne’s curiosity was piqued.

“Just me and Ulysses working on something else,” Oedipus lied smoothly. “Nothing to do with this, but it was all shoved together.”

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, but let it go. “Fine. Orpheus?”

“Almost done. Just need a few lines, but I’ll get those done when we have the last notes from Oedipus.” His confidence was back up when asked about something he knew how to do.

Ariadne sighed. “Fine. I just wanna get this done, it’s due next week.”

“Yes, Ariadne,” the boys mumbled in succession.


	34. Oedipus

Oedipus didn’t cough when smoking anymore. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he also didn’t care. It was useful when he was talking.

“What happens now?” Ulysses asked when Oedipus was done. “Okay, you figured out how they’re immortal. What now?”

“I don’t know,” Oedipus sighed. “I mean… Go to the police? No, that’s ridiculous, they’d laugh at me. But there’s gotta be someone out there who can do something. Or are we just gonna let a bunch of immortals educate kids?”

“That’s what I plan to do.” Ulysses shrugged. “What else is there?”

“I don’t know. But we can’t be the first ones to know.”

“Of course not.” The glance Ulysses sent Oedipus made him squirm, but they only smiled. “Did you know Prometheus? He went here a few years back — you might be too young, actually.”

“I knew  _ of _ him, yeah,” Oedipus said. “Why?”

“Well, you know, he knew. And he tried to do something. Succeeded too, I think, some kind of underground vigilante group or whatever, one of the teachers got got. Then Prometheus got got.”

“What do you mean,  _ got got _ ?” asked Oedipus, which was an entirely fair question in my opinion.

Ulysses’ smile was wicked, and they dragged their thumb across their throat in a universal gesture. “Got got,” they repeated.

“Right.” Oedipus sighed and put out his cigarette. “So what, we wait?”

“We survive.” Ulysses lit a cigarette of their own. “You go back to Jocasta, or whatever.”

“If you mention Jocasta one more time I’m gonna send you through a wall.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“I beat up her husband, didn’t I?” It was Oedipus’ turn on the wicked smile. “I could send you through a wall if I wanted.”

“In that case I’m impressed you haven’t sent Herakles through one yet.”

“Honestly, me too.” Oedipus got up. “I’m gonna go do that.”

“Have fun.”

Oedipus went home, sadly without sending Herakles through a wall, but he likely would’ve failed anyway.


	35. Herakles

The garden of the Zeus estate was looking nicer by the minute, as Herakles spent his free afternoon tearing up the weeds. He went harder when his father appeared, not acknowledging him.

“Clean up, son,” Zeus said after a while.

“Why?” Herakles didn’t look up.

“Guests are coming over. Some of the school board, including some of your teachers. I don’t want them seeing you like this, all covered in mud. Clean up.”

“Don’t let them in the garden, then.” Herakles continued pulling up weeds. “The windows of your office face the front lawn, and I’m done with that for the day.”

“Fine.” Zeus turned and walked away, surprising Herakles with how easily he gave in, but Herakles was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and continued pulling up weeds.

Some time later — maybe an hour — there was a cough behind him. “Looking good,” came the voice of Hades.

Herakles turned to see them, smoking a cigarette, standing in the middle of the garden. “You’re not supposed to be back here,” he said automatically. “Um, sorry sir, I just… I thought you were all staying in the house.”

“Needed a smoke.” Hades gestured with their cigarette. “Heard someone moving about, came around to check. Looks good. Didn’t know you were into gardening.”

“I’m not.” Herakles brushed off his hands and stood. “I just want to keep it neat. It’s Hera’s garden.”

“Stepmother, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It looks nice. Put the same effort into your schoolwork and I won’t have to fail you.”

“You won’t anyway,” Herakles reminded them. “I took the project like you said. No complaints.”

“That’s true.” Hades nodded. “Anyway, I need to get back to this meeting.” They rolled their eyes. “Keep up the good work.”

They disappeared before Herakles could get a reply in, so he just returned to the weeds.


	36. The Toy Soldier

TS had managed to convince Orpheus to stay after a rehearsal, and managed to talk Eurydice and Echo into bullying Narcissus enough that he showed up too. Narcissus wasn’t happy with it; he was standing, arms crossed, looking accusingly at Eurydice. “Why am I here?”

“Do Not Worry, Friend Narcissus!” TS took his hand. “I Will Soon Be Gone. Orpheus?”   
Orpheus stepped forward. “What’s going on, TS?”

TS waved, and the girls disappeared, giggling. “You Two Need To Talk.” It pointed first at Narcissus. “You Are In Love With Orpheus, Are You Not, Old Chap?”

Narcissus turned beet red and didn’t answer.

“And You, Friend Orpheus.” It turned on him. “You Are In Love With Narcissus. Talk. I Have Places To Be.” It clapped its hands and left without a further word, leaving the boys to talk it through. Frankly, I don’t care for the details, so just know that it was all very romantic and heartwarming.

TS left the school and went back to its flat. Then it called Hades. “Ashes! I Need To Perform Some Arson At My Apartment.”

“I’m on my way.” They hung up.

And indeed, a few minutes later, they showed up. “Where’s the arson?”

“Here.” TS gestured around the apartment. “We Are Leaving, Are We Not?”

“Yeah, true.” Ashes looked around. “Gasoline?”

“Right Here, Old Chap.” The Toy Soldier gestured to two cannisters in the corner. “Just This Flat, And Whatever Else Gets Caught.”

“Boring,” Ashes muttered, but they nodded. “Alright, let’s pour.”

The two of them doused the flat in gasoline, then the Toy Soldier stepped out, and Ashes dropped a match. They hightailed it back to Aurora before the authorities showed up, and then we were off; they were the last of the crew to return, even though I’d  _ told _ them to be on time.


	37. Orpheus

Remember how I said last chapter that I was gonna leave Orpheus and Narcissus to their bullshit? Yeah, I lied, here’s the story.

After TS left, the two of them simply stared at each other for a few seconds.

Narcissus broke the silence, to Orpheus’ relief. “Is it… Is it true? What TS said?”

The relief was short-lived; Orpheus had no idea what to say. “I don’t know, I mean… Yes? I think so? But I don’t know. Is it true for you?”

“Yes.” Narcissus sighed. “Yes, Old Sport, quite true.” He stepped over to take Orpheus’ hand. “Quite true.”

“Quite true for me as well, I think.”

“Let’s go home. My parents are out tonight, we can… We can talk at home.”

They held hands on the entire walk to Narcissus’ house, and I really don’t want to know what happened after that.

The next day, however, I do wanna talk about. Narcissus walked Orpheus to rehearsal, kissing him goodbye at the door.

“Orpheus!” Dionysus came over. “Did you see the news?”

“News? What news?”

“TS’ building burned down, no one’s seen it since. We’re not calling off the show, so I hope you know your song.”

“Um, yes, of course.” Orpheus blinked. “Is TS okay?”

“We don’t know. It wasn’t in the buildings, apparently, but no one knows where it is.”

“Congratulations, Old Sport,” Narcissus said, pulling Orpheus into a hug. “I knew you had it in you!”

“Yeah, well, you better get backstage, you’ve got a costume fitting,” Dionysus said. “You, get out.” He gestured for Narcissus to leave. “Show’s tomorrow and I need to go on without my lead.”

“I’ll come pick you up after rehearsal,” Narcissus promised and left.

Orpheus went to his costume fitting, still worrying about TS. It was fine, of course, though he’d never find that out.


	38. Ariadne

At long last, the day came where they could hand in the project, and Ariadne could stop pretending like she didn’t hate Herakles. She never was very good at it, anyhow.

She was quick to leave after class ended, wanting to ignore Daedalus calling after her. Then Hermes grabbed her shoulder and pointed her back, so she went.

"What's up?" Ariadne asked, tossing her hair as she went. "I have another class."

"I am well aware." Daedalus looked up at her. "How is your father?"

Ariadne curled her fists, but she didn't come this far without diplomacy. So she took a deep breath and steadied herself. "He's well. Court hearing is next week."

"And I suppose this explains your lack of concentration in class?"

"I already spoke to Dr Von Raum." The response was automatic. "Stress makes concentration nearly impossible. I'm doing my best, sir, but circumstances are not on my side."

"I understand." Daedalus nodded. "Very well, I will discuss with Dr Von Raum and see if we can afford some leniency for you on this project. Go ahead now."

"Thank you, sir."

Ariadne did not go to her next class; it was chemistry, and while she didn't know that Hades had left — as had Dr Von Raum, which would cause her grief later — she would've shown up to a cancelled class.

Instead she showed up by Ulysses' side, wordlessly demanding a light for her cigarette. They complied without asking, and she walked away, angry and relieved in equal measure.


	39. Oedipus

The air was still as a dead man’s tongue that day, despite the December chill, which meant that the air was thick with the smoke from Ulysses’ and Oedipus’ cigarettes in the corner where they’d sat down to talk. The project had been over for nearly a week, so they had no excuse to hang out anymore, but nonetheless, Oedipus had found himself by their side when his classes were done practically every day. Neither of them said anything, just shared cigarettes.

Oedipus’ phone went off with an email; he checked it idly. “Oh fuck,” he said then.

“What?” Ulysses looked over his shoulder, then laughed. “Looks like you’re stuck with me then.”

“Fuck off.” Oedipus put his phone away. “But seriously, a B? Really? What did I do to deserve this?”

“Spent most of your interview time smoking and exchanging conspiracies,” Ulysses told him. “Oh, by the way, did you ever figure out when these things are gonna kill us?” They gestured to the cigarette.

“Soon.” Oedipus sighed. “I can almost imagine the headlines. Ulysses dies at dawn. Found with illegal cigarettes.” He laughed a bit. “Tell you what, though, I’m thinking of leaving. Jocasta still keeps calling me, and my parents are… Well, whatever. And with a B on this project I can’t switch schools without moving, so.”

“Why are you telling  _ me _ this?” Ulysses asked. “I mean, good for you, but it’s not like we’re friends or anything.”   
“Ulysses, we hang out daily.”

“You just won’t leave me alone.” Ulysses grinned. “Not that I mind, you’re fine. But come on. Why?”

“I don’t know.” Oedipus sighed. “Because you’re here and I’ve officially given up.” Oedipus handed Ulysses a fiver. “Give me however many cigarettes that’ll cover. I’m not coming tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Ulysses shrugged. “It’s not quite a pack, but call it a friend’s discount.” They handed him a pack — not Sphinx, a cheap, regular one.

“Thanks.” Oedipus pocketed it and walked away, feeling both lighter and heavier than he ever remembered feeling.


	40. Herakles

Herakles had finally pinned a picture of his dad up in the gym, not on the punching bag, but on the dartboard in the corner. He’d invited Theseus over, and they were throwing darts by turns.

“Try to hit his nose this time,” Theseus said as Herakles was lining up a shot.

“Right.” Herakles threw the dart; it hit Zeus in the eye. “That’s better anyway,” he said, throwing his next dark without aiming. It bounced off the edge of the dartboard, landing on the floor. “Damn.”

“One more shot, Herakles.”

“I know, shut up.” Herakles lined up his shot, took a deep breath, and threw the dart with enough force to split a ceiling beam. Which isn’t what happened, but the dart did leave a sizable crack in the dartboard, and in his father’s printed face. “Got rid of the dartboard now.”

“Whatever.” Theseus rolled his eyes. “How’s Ariadne?”

“What do you care? Besides, I haven’t spoken to her in over a week.”

“Just wanted to know. Almost thought you two made friends there.”

“I’d rather be friends with Orpheus.” Herakles picked up a ball and tossed it at Theseus, who caught it. “And that’s saying something after what happened with Hyllas.”

“Yeah, I hear Jason’s still mad at both of you for causing a scene at his game.”

“He can get over it,” Herakles snapped back. “It doesn’t matter. I’m over it. The project’s done and so am I.” He caught the ball as Theseus threw it. “Plus, there’s another game next week, I’m thinking Jason might have forgiven me enough, don’t you?” He threw the ball.

Theseus caught it effortlessly. “No, I don’t. You might as well be dead, Herakles, for all Jason cares.”

“Yeah, well, my dad too, so that works out.” Herakles snorted. “Whatever. It’s fine. Year’s almost over, right?”

“Yeah, true.” Theseus tossed the ball back. “Anything else you wanna talk about?”

“Didn’t even wanna talk about this, dude.”

They kept throwing the ball back and forth, now wordlessly. I frankly don’t see the appeal, but oh well.


	41. Ulysses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it!

It had been days since Ulysses had seen Hades. They’d gone as far as to ask Narcissus what had happened; apparently Hades had simply disappeared, as had Dr Von Raum, first name Marius, that one ethics teacher they’d never talked to who was probably Brian, and TS, who Hades had called the Toy Soldier. The aliens.

It didn’t seem to affect the immortals at all, though. Oedipus was gone; apparently he’d left like he said he would, after that afternoon where his grades came in. Ulysses had considered calling him, but really, they weren’t friends. It was just odd; they didn’t know where he’d gone.

Orpheus and Narcissus were still around, of course, buying booze and being insufferable and flustered around each other. Ulysses didn’t mind them much; they were cute, in their own way, and half their income, and they wouldn’t begrudge the kids some happiness.

Ariadne and Herakles seemed to hate each other as much as they always had, although Herakles was even angrier than before; Ulysses wondered briefly, when they saw him, if he’d gone to see Hyllas, and then wondered if Oedipus was at the same school as Hyllas. Ariadne, of course, still came by for her weekly cigarettes, and still refused to actually say anything.

In the end, Ulysses supposed, very little had actually changed. They might need a new hook-up for booze and cigarettes to resell, but on the other hand, they were old enough to buy those things themself, it was just easier to make Hades do it.

At the end of the day, they’d die soon anyway. They lit a Sphinx and stared at the smoke in the early afternoon sun.

By sunrise, Ulysses was dead.


End file.
